Almost two thirds of travellers feel they are unlikely to travel as much
on business even after the pandemic is over, according to a new survey from IATA.
Despite this ominous news for the business travel sector, the finding is
an improvement on a September 2020 poll by the organisation when 72 per cent believed they would travel
less.
The chilling effect of quarantine is still evident
in the survey. The poll found that 84 per cent of those surveyed said they
would not travel if there was a chance of quarantine at their destination (largely
unchanged from 83 per cent in September 2020).
“People want to get back to travel, but quarantine is the showstopper.
As testing capacity and technology improves and the vaccinated population
grows, the conditions for removing quarantine measures are being created. And
this points us again towards working with governments for a well-planned
re-opening as soon as conditions allow,” said IATA director general Alexandre de
Juniac.
Almost half of those surveyed (49 per cent) felt
that travel restrictions had gone too far and 88 per cent believe that when opening borders, the right
balance must be struck between managing Covid-19 risks and getting the economy
going again.
More than a third of people in the survey said the restrictions prevent
them from doing business normally.
“It is becoming clear that we will need to learn to live and travel in a
world that has Covid-19. Given the health, social and economic costs of travel
restrictions, airlines should be ready to re-connect the world as soon as
governments are able to re-open borders. That’s why a plan with measurable
milestones is so critical. Without one, how can we be prepared for restart
without an unnecessary delay?” said de Juniac.
IATA surveyed 4,700 people in 11 countries including
the UK, France and Germany between 15 and 23 February 2021.